3 Reasons No Believer Can Be ‘Canceled’
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- Updated Feb 18, 2022
De-platformed. Blocked. Facebook Jailed. Canceled. These terms that didn’t even exist ten years ago have not only become common language; they have become things that make us angry, fearful, and reluctant to speak out. In this era, the term “canceled’ has come to refer to anyone that is deemed to be offensive (by whomever it is that decides what is and isn’t offensive), and therefore that person and their ideas must be hidden from view, forbidden to have any platform or opportunity to write or speak the offensive thing.
In the age of social media, it can be easy to think that if you were to be canceled, your voice would be gone. We can believe that nothing we say or do matters once we have lost access to the world’s platform for being heard. It appears it is not just celebrities that are fighting to have one another canceled from various platforms, but average folks who are out there putting their two cents out there are getting ‘de-platformed’ as well.
Social Media Is Not Where We Live
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” - Matthew 10:29-31
The truth of the matter is that generations after us will look upon sites like Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter as some weird thing that old people used to do. It is inevitable that these platforms will go the way of VHS tapes, phones that plug into the wall, and MySpace. They will eventually end up irrelevant and unimportant. We place too much emphasis on what the world thinks and where we have access to have our voices heard and feel that we are known and accepted.
Scripture teaches us that we are clearly incapable of being canceled. As children of God, and co-heirs with Christ, there is no force on earth that can silence our voice or cause us to lose hope, meaning, or purpose.
Our voice is heard in our homes, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, and God can take these small interactions and change lives eternally. He has been working that way since the beginning of recorded history and works that way still.
We Are Chosen
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” - Jeremiah 1:5
This word of God, spoken specifically to Jeremiah, has a certain application for us as well. Jeremiah was a chosen instrument of God, sent to proclaim a very unpopular message. At the time, Judah was in danger of being attacked by Babylon, a world empire of the time. Many false prophets were preaching that Judah was going to be safe, prosperous and that all that had been stolen from the Temple by Babylonians would be returned. Who doesn’t love a happy ending?
In contrast, Jeremiah was a bearer of bad news, and one could even say that his message was politically incorrect: “Then I said to the priests and all these people, “This is what the LORD says: Do not listen to the prophets who say, ‘Very soon now the articles from the LORD’s house will be brought back from Babylon.’ They are prophesying lies to you. Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon, and you will live. Why should this city become a ruin?” Jeremiah countered their pleasing message with a somber but true message. Instead of pretending that Babylon would relent, it was really better to submit to Babylon's domination and accept it as God’s punishment.
One could say that this kind of preaching got Jeremiah ‘canceled’. The words he wrote were shredded and thrown into a fire, and he was even thrown into a well, yet the words he spoke came to pass, and are written down for us to read to this day.
It is my hope that none of us ever get thrown down a well! Yet just like Jeremiah, the words we speak that are true, and point to Christ, can never be taken away no matter who rejects them.
We Matter to God
“You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.” - Psalm 139:1-4
It doesn’t take much to make us feel like we are insignificant. In a world with billions of people, there are so many shouting to be heard! Social media is the most obvious and most damaging medium that can make us feel that our thoughts don’t matter. It is also the main place where we can get ‘canceled,'’ whether we are blocked from the platforms or simply ignored. Yet God says that before we even have a thought, he knows it. He intimately knows the words we speak, the way we feel, and cares deeply for us.
Zephaniah 3:17 states that “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Even if speaking the truth of the gospel seems to turn the whole world against us, we can know that the one who made and sustains us not only hears but celebrates us for who we are in him.
After all, people even worked to silence Jesus and the apostles, and each time those attempts merely serve to further the purpose and message of God. As believers, our words will not go unheard, our voices will not be silenced, and no matter who tries to ‘cancel’ us or the gospel that we preach, the Word of God will continue to grow and flourish as it always has.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Rodion Kutsaev
Jason Soroski is a homeschool dad and member of the worship team at matthias lot church in St. Charles, MO. He spends his free time hanging out with his family, exploring new places, and writing about the experiences. Connect on Facebook or at JasonSoroski.net.
